- Theresa May suffered a first stinging defeat on EU Withdrawal Bill last week
- Eleven Tory rebels joined forces with Labour, the SNP and the Lib Dems in vote
- Some rebels now urging the PM to forge cross party alliance for ‘soft Brexit’
Tory rebels who defeated Theresa May over the EU Withdrawal Bill are pushing for a ‘soft Brexit’ alliance with Labour.
Some of the MPs who inflicted the stinging setback last week want the PM to take advantage of a cross-party Europhile majority in the Commons.
The government was dealt a blow on Wednesday when 11 Conservatives joined Labour, the SNP and Lib Dems to force through an amendment to the flagship Bill demanding MPs get a ‘meaningful’ vote on any final deal.
A rebellion of Conservative MPs handed Theresa May her first ever legislative defeat on the Brexit Bill last week (pictured is the result being announced)
Tory grandee Ken Clarke (left) and Anna Soubry (right) were among the rebels – although it is not known whether they have approached No10 about forging an alliance with Labour MPs
Senior Tory Dominic Grieve (pictured in the Commons last week) was the ringleader of the rebellion in the Commons last week
The result appears to have emboldened the rebels who are now trying to turn the tables on hardline Eurosceptics.
At least two have urged senior Downing Street figures to reach out to Labour’s pro-EU faction and use their support to water down Brexit, according to the Guardian.
One rebel said: ‘At the moment, the Labour party is terribly divided and therefore there are quite a large body of independent-minded Labour MPs who would be willing to respond positively to a request to provide support to a government that is seen to be doing the right thing.
‘I think the danger is that if she leaves it too late, the window will close on that.’
Another said they had told the PM’s of staff Gavin Barwell: ‘If you’re clever, you will reach over the head of (Jeremy) Corbyn and go to those sensible Labour people and put the hard Brexiters back in their box.’
Labour MP Chuka Umunna told the paper: ‘There is no doubt that last week’s vote has strengthened the hand of Philip Hammond, Amber Rudd and Greg Clark, the soft Brexit advocates in cabinet.
‘Members from across the whole House will now be looking to them to use their new-found leverage to bring some coherence and sanity to bear on the unsustainable negotiating position of the government.’
Meanwhile, Europhile Tory MP Vicky Ford – a former MEP – refused to deny in an interview today that she was reduced to tears by clashes with party whips over the EU Bill.
Asked about the episode last week, Ms Ford told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that there were ‘some very robust conversations with the whips’.
Tory Mp Stephen Hammond was sacked as a party vice-chairman within minutes of the revolt, which consigned the Prime Minister to an historic first defeat on Brexit